Lot Essay
William Turnbull explored the theme of the horse extensively throughout the 1940s and 1950s, returning to it during the 1980s. In the Horses of the 1980s, Turnbull dispels any introduction of colour, instead turning his attention to form, space and the textures and tones of his chosen medium. In Horse 3, he simplifies the form of the horse to three interlocking shapes; the head a flat mask-like palette, which is interposed with two central apertures evocative of eyes, connecting to an arch of bronze. Turnbull explains his working method:
‘When I make horse’s heads… it’s always been with this idea of having a metaphoric quality. But also with only part of the horse represented, you didn’t feel the rest of the horse is missing. That has always fascinated me in sculpture where the part can become the whole’ (W. Turnbull in conservation with C. Renfrew, quoted in exhibition catalogue, William Turnbull Sculpture and Paintings, London, Waddington Galleries, 1998, p. 8).
Turnbull’s Horses can be seen, in part, to be inspired by the Classical Greek sculptures he studied while at the Slade, such as the fragmented Horse of Selene, circa 438-432 B.C., from the Parthenon and the Quadriga of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, 350 B.C. Turnbull was fascinated by the ancient, historical and mystical and often frequented the British Museum, captivated by the carvings from Egypt, the Cyclades and Archaic Greek sculptures. This interest in the art of other civilisations, both ancient and contemporary, was supported by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), which he joined after his return from Paris in 1950. It was intensified by his marriage to Singaporean sculptor Kim Lim in 1960 and their subsequent travel together to Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore in 1962.
As Turnbull was recreating this subject, he referred to his memory of the Horse of Selene, located on the east pediment of the Parthenon, which he had studied while at the Slade. Turnbull has explained his reasons for reworking the subject: ‘It is very interesting to see the possibility of enormous variation. It is not necessary to take a new theme, but to transpose something;’ (W. Turnbull, quoted in A. A. Davidson, The Sculpture of William Turnbull, Much Hadham, 2005, p. 71).
‘When I make horse’s heads… it’s always been with this idea of having a metaphoric quality. But also with only part of the horse represented, you didn’t feel the rest of the horse is missing. That has always fascinated me in sculpture where the part can become the whole’ (W. Turnbull in conservation with C. Renfrew, quoted in exhibition catalogue, William Turnbull Sculpture and Paintings, London, Waddington Galleries, 1998, p. 8).
Turnbull’s Horses can be seen, in part, to be inspired by the Classical Greek sculptures he studied while at the Slade, such as the fragmented Horse of Selene, circa 438-432 B.C., from the Parthenon and the Quadriga of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, 350 B.C. Turnbull was fascinated by the ancient, historical and mystical and often frequented the British Museum, captivated by the carvings from Egypt, the Cyclades and Archaic Greek sculptures. This interest in the art of other civilisations, both ancient and contemporary, was supported by the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), which he joined after his return from Paris in 1950. It was intensified by his marriage to Singaporean sculptor Kim Lim in 1960 and their subsequent travel together to Japan, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore in 1962.
As Turnbull was recreating this subject, he referred to his memory of the Horse of Selene, located on the east pediment of the Parthenon, which he had studied while at the Slade. Turnbull has explained his reasons for reworking the subject: ‘It is very interesting to see the possibility of enormous variation. It is not necessary to take a new theme, but to transpose something;’ (W. Turnbull, quoted in A. A. Davidson, The Sculpture of William Turnbull, Much Hadham, 2005, p. 71).